Acting
Brian Blessed
EN, GA, DE, IT cinema · 99 credits
Born
9 October 1936 (age 90)
Birthplace
Mexborough, Yorkshire, England, UK
Also known as B. Blessed · برایان بلسد
Brian Blessed OBE (born 9 October 1936)is an English actor. He is known for his distinctive bushy beard, booming voice, and exuberant personality and performances. He portrayed PC "Fancy" Smith in Z-Cars; Augustus in the 1976 BBC television production of I, Claudius; King Richard IV in the first series of Blackadder; Prince Vultan in Flash Gordon; Bustopher Jones and Old Deuteronomy in the 1981 original London production of Cats at the New London Theatre; Thomas Beaufort, Duke of Exeter, in Henry V; Boss Nass in Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace; and the voice of Clayton and the Tarzan yell in Disney's Tarzan. In 2016, Blessed was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to the arts and charity. Blessed was born on 9 October 1936 at Montagu Hospital in Mexborough, West Riding of Yorkshire, the son of William Blessed, a socialist coal miner at Hickleton Main Colliery (and himself the son of a coal miner) and cricketer for the Yorkshire second team, and Hilda (née Wall). He had a brother Alan, seven years younger, and the pair "went everywhere together" when they were growing up. Alan Blessed died from leukaemia aged 52; their mother died aged 87, and their father died aged 99. Blessed's great-great-grandfather, Jabez Blessed, was the father of 13 children and worked as a china and glass dealer in Brigg, Lincolnshire; many of Blessed's relatives hail from Brigg. Blessed went to Bolton on Dearne Secondary Modern School, and completed his national service in the RAF, in Bicester, before enrolling at the Bristol Old Vic Theatre School in 1956.
Known for
Filmography
Dudley & the Invasion of the Space Slugs
as Arthur (voice)
Time Travel Is Dangerous!
as Gavin the Octopus (voice)
Peppa's Cinema Party
as Grampy Rabbit (voice)
Peppa Pig: Wedding Party!
as Grampy Rabbit (voice)
Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans
as Charlemagne (voice)
Eugenius!
as Space Lord
Dear Mr. Burton
as Narrator
Shed of the Dead
as Narrator (voice)
Robin Hood: The Rebellion
as Friar Tuck
Life After Flash
as Self
Peppa Pig: The Golden Boots
as Grampy Rabbit (voice)
The Seventeenth Kind
as The Voice (voice)
Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return
as Judge Jawbreaker (voice)
The Pirates! In an Adventure with Scientists!
as The Pirate King (voice)
LEGO Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Out
as Boss Nass (voice)
So You Want To Be A Pirate!
as The Pirate King
Mr. Bojagi
2010
Mr. Bojagi
as Mr. Bojagi
Agent Crush
as Boris Goudphater (voice)
Back in Business
as Trevor Pilkington
The Conclave
as Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomin
Day of Wrath
as Lord Francisco del Ruiz
As You Like It
as Duke Senior/Duke Frederick
Mist: The Tale of a Sheepdog Puppy
as Sir Gregory (voice)
Mist: The Tale of a Sheepdog Puppy
as Sir Gregory(voice)
The Funny Blokes of British Comedy
2005
The Funny Blokes of British Comedy
as King Richard IV (archive footage) (uncredited)
Alexander
as Wrestling Trainer
The Legend of the Tamworth Two
as Wild Boar (voice)
Devil's Harvest
as Father Gabriel Norton
The Making of Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
as Self - Actor
The Mumbo Jumbo
as Lucifer Bounder
Tarzan
as Clayton (voice)
Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace
as Boss Nass (voice)
The Greatest Store in the World
as Mr. Scottley
King Lear
as King Lear, Director
Hey, Mr. Producer! The Musical World of Cameron Mackintosh
as Old Deuteronomy
Macbeth
as Edward the Confessor
Hamlet
as Ghost of Hamlet's Father
Catherine the Great
as Bestuzhev
The Bruce
as Edward I
Kidnapped
as Cluny MacPherson
Chasing the Deer
as Maj. Elliot
David Macaulay: Roman City
as Gaius Valerius (voice)
Much Ado About Nothing
as Antonio
Old Rococo: The Life of Gioacchino Rossini
as Voice of Rossini
Exam Conditions
1992
Exam Conditions
as Mr. Carksdale
Freddie As F.R.O.7.
as El Supremo (voice)
Back in the USSR
as Chazov
Blood and Dust
as Chatillon
Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves
as Lord Locksley
Prisoner of Honor
as Gen. Gonse
Galahad of Everest
as George Mallory/Self
Henry V
as Exeter
David Macaulay: Pyramid
as Ankhaf (voice)
David Macaulay: Cathedral
as Master Guillaume (voice)
Doctor Who: Mindwarp
as King Yrcanos
Blake's 7: The Beginning
as Vargas
The Master of Ballantrae
as Captain Teach
High Road to China
as Suleman Khan
The Hound of the Baskervilles
as Geoffrey Lyons
Cosmic Princess
as Mentor
Flash Gordon
as Prince Vultan
Tales of the Unexpected: Lamb to the Slaughter
as Detective Jack Noonan
A Christmas Carol
as Narrator (voice)
The Eagle Has Landed
as Arthur Seymour (voice) (uncredited)
The Day After Tomorrow: Into Infinity
as Dr. Tom Bowen
King Arthur, the Young Warlord
as Mark of Cornwall
A Midsummer Nightmare
as Det Sgt George Briggs
Henry VIII and His Six Wives
as Suffolk
Man of La Mancha
as Pedro
The Last Valley
as Korski
The Trojan Women
as Talthybius
The Bristol Entertainment
1971
The Bristol Entertainment
as Cabot / Wolstan / Pocock / Colston / Pope Gregory / Dr. Beddoes
Brotherly Love
as Jack Baird
Till Death Us Do Part
as Sergeant
Son of Man
as Peter
